My small family, consisting of two children, was living a simple life, full of safety and peace. My beautiful daughter Tulin, 8 years old, my son Zaki, 7 years old, and my husband Adnan. We used to wake up early to prepare breakfast and get our children ready for school, so they could continue their education like other children. We lived a normal life, and although it was simple, it was filled with love and warmth. But everything changed in a single moment, on October 7th, when fires erupted everywhere, and the sound of shelling and explosions filled the air. The children were terrified and refused to go to school from that day on, and our lives became consumed by fear and terror.
One dark night, while we were still hoping that the situation would calm down, there was a violent knock on the door. A voice warned us: "Leave immediately, you have to flee, the area will be bombed." We had no choice but to run. We left the house with only the clothes on our backs, taking nothing with us. We ran through the dark night, filled with fear and anxiety about what awaited us.
After a long day of exhaustion and suffering, we arrived in Khan Younis, searching for a place to protect us. It wasn’t easy to find one, but after a long search, we found a school in Bani Suheila. We stayed there for 50 days, living in constant fear. Bombings were happening everywhere, and the situation kept worsening. We had no clothes or blankets to shield our children from the biting cold of the night. We tried to hide them under blankets donated by kind-hearted people, trying to find some warmth for them.
But even this shelter wasn’t safe. Shortly after, we received a threat from the occupation that the school and the entire area would be bombed. We had to flee again, so we decided to move towards Rafah, to Tel al-Sultan. We didn’t know where to go or where we could find safety. The cold was unbearable, and we had no money or resources to build a tent. We tried any way we could to find shelter. We built a tent from pieces of wood and fabric, but the cold was so severe, and my children were freezing, getting sick again and again.
We stayed there for several months, trying to endure, until the decision came to invade Rafah. That’s when everything collapsed. We had no more hope, and we didn’t know where to go or where we could find refuge. We decided to flee once again, this time to Muwassi Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah. But danger surrounded us from every direction, and there was no safe place. We built a new tent, but it was nothing more than pieces of wood and fabric. It didn’t protect us from the cold, nor did it stop my children’s tears that fell every night from the freezing cold and fear.
My husband suffers from high blood pressure, and I suffer from severe migraines that make it impossible for me to endure the harsh cold. We are now living on the seashore, in a tent that doesn’t provide us with adequate protection. My children cry from pain and cold, and I can do nothing but watch them, helpless, unable to offer them anything.
Please, to anyone reading this story, we are an exhausted family. We have been displaced four times and have not found a safe place. Our children are suffering, and our lives are in constant danger. We plead to anyone who can help us to save us. Any donation or help could be a lifeline for us in these harsh conditions. Save my family from this war, and give us a new chance at life.
@evillesbinvianllainarchive
